Homemade disk sander or something else?

[Mark A]

I've got a 3/4 hp 2800rpm induction motor from an old tile cutter which I'd like to use to make something like a disk sander but is 2800rpm too much and scorch the wood? If it is, what else can I make from it, but not too complicated : :roll: ? And don't say a tile cutter!

Mark

 

[spg]

I've got a 3/4 hp 2800rpm induction motor from an old tile cutter which I'd like to use to make something like a disk sander but is 2800rpm too much and scorch the wood? If it is, what else can I make from it, but not too complicated : :roll: ? And don't say a tile cutter!

Mark

You could use a couple of pulleys and a belt to reduce the speed.

S.

 

[bosshogg]

A search 'home-made disk sander' in Google > images will bring up so many, you won't believe...bosshogg

 

[Mark A]

I've looked at pictures of them in the past on google and have now drawn up a design for what I'd like to make, but am unsure about the speed scorching the wood. All of the commercially available disk sanders seem to have a speed of around 1400 rpm, but my motor is double that.

Mark

 

[custard]

Mark, I'd make two comments.

1. Unless you spend a lot of money on a disc sander I'm sceptical that they're any better than a home made alternative. I now have the Record DS300 which has a 300mm disc and a cast iron table. It's okay, but no better than okay. Changing the sanding discs is a fiddle, the mitre track isn't particularly accurate, and the mechanism for adjusting the table inclination is disappointingly crude. It's probably okay for finish sanding end grain, but it's not really precise enough for dimensioning components for boxes/picture frames, or for use with a Domino machine where the ends need to be precise in both axis to a fraction of a degree in order to produce a perfect Domino mortice and tenon joint.

2. Twice 1400rpm is way too fast. Before getting the Record disc sander I had a home made disc sanding jig on my lathe which has a variable speed control. On a 300mm disc I'd rarely go over 1000 RPM. It's difficult to appreciate just what an aggressive shaping tool a disc sander can be until you've used one.

 

[Mark A]

That's what I thought too. I'll have a look for some pulleys and belts on ebay now. Anyway it would increase the torque on the disk wouldn't it, reducing the speed to 1:2.5 with a 2" pulley on the arbor and a 5" pulley on the disc.

Cheers, Mark

 

[wobblycogs]

I made a belt sander last Christmas with the design including a disc sander (which I've not fitted it yet). It's certainly possible to build one yourself but I honestly wouldn't bother unless you are doing it for the enjoyment of trying to make your own equipment.

I priced the sander up after I'd finished building it and the parts came to about the same as it would have cost to buy a decent sander. On a more positive note though I now have some experience of building my own equipment and all major the parts of my sander can fairly easily be re-used if I choose to break it down and build something else. Good luck if you choose to give it a go.

http://www.wobblycogs.co.uk/index.php/woodworking/projects/belt-sander
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums...ct-belt-sander-t46192.html?hilit= belt sander

 

[Mark A]

Hi wobblycogs

Yes, it is for my own enjoyment mostly, but also because I was going to throw away the tile cutter so I thought that I might as well make something out of it.

I've had a look on ebay for pulleys but they're more than what I was willing to spend so I'll try a local scrap yard and see what I can scavenge from an old washing machine or engine.

But in the meantime I've got some wardrobe doors to make....

Cheers,
Mark

 

[woodbloke]

Mine is shown on the 'For Sale' forum and runs off a Brooks Gryphon motor. It does spin a little too fast for comfort, but tbh that's never bothered me too much as I don't use it as a precision sander. What's more important IMO is to fit it with a dust extraction port as I've done. It's served well for a number of years but it's going to be replaced with a more compact bench mounted unit - Rob

 

[jimi43]

A homemade disc sander need not cost you anything other than scraps and bootfair bits....

This is pulley driven to reduce the speed but was an old motor from a lathe...

It's probably the cheapest bit of useful kit that I have ever used...costs way less than a commercial one...they are usually rubbish and grossly overpriced.

With clever use of the table you can do very square sanding...have virtual zero clearance and changing "disks" is easy as pie. Rip the old one off...stick on a square of ordinary paper (cheaper than discs) when dry...cut around it.

How difficult is that?

I even ground plane soles from castings on this..no problems...a few sparks though!

Jim

 

[brianhabby]

Jim, that looks brilliant, an inspiration

regards

Brian

 

[jimi43]

Jim, that looks brilliant, an inspiration

regards

Brian

Cheers Brian...it does me ok.

Word of warning with these homemade jobs though....if you look at the commercial ones...you will see there is a quadrant guard on the side that is rising (RHS in this one moving counter-clockwise). This is to prevent you sanding wood on that side with the result that the stock flies skyward towards your face at quite high speed!

Since I know this I avoid using this area of the disk...and I highly recommend you do the same! :mrgreen: :wink:

Jim

 

[Mark A]

Jim that's very similar to the design I've planned, but much better!

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Eric The Viking]

Mark,

I think you can get pulleys from Machine Mart (they certainly do motors). You might get a suitable reduction, or possibly even a set, to give a range of speeds.

Cheers,

E.

 

[Mark A]

Thanks Eric

I've just checked now - they do sell pulleys, but they're more expensive than ebay.

I'll try a scrapyard sometime, and if not, I'll search on google

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Tusses]

could you not make pulleys from MDF ?

 

[wobblycogs]

I got the pulleys for my belt sander from ebay, they were by far the cheapest option after a very thorough googling.

 

[Eric The Viking]

could you not make pulleys from MDF ?

Actually, I have a jig for doing that...

To be honest though, unless it's only for children's toys, etc., I'm not convinced you can balance them well enough for high RPM.

I've successfully made V-groove pulleys out of MDF, but it's significantly softer in the middle than near the faces, and that's where the wear may happen when running round belts. For my application (flushing the loo - don't ask!), it didn't matter, and the pulleys were quite small anyway (2 1/8" diameter). If you want a big V-groove pulley you might laminate it up from ply - you'd then only theoretically need to bevel two disks. Other candidates are Tufnol and Perspex.

Weight-wise you can balance by drilling holes carefully near the edge, as long as you have a good bearing to test on (rolling the shaft on two level knife edges might work, but would be difficult to set up)., but that doesn't solve the problem of varying diameter - fine if cut on a lathe, but mine weren't!

I'll post the groovy jig in the other forum when I get a moment...

[edit]Pulley grooving jig is here.[/edit]

 

[Mark A]

It just so happens that I've recently made an adjustable circle-cutting jig for my router so a DIY plywood pulley could be done. But on the other hand I don't know how well plywood would hold up over time.

I'll try ebay again!

Cheers,
Mark

 

[RogerBoyle]

A homemade disc sander need not cost you anything other than scraps and bootfair bits....

This is pulley driven to reduce the speed but was an old motor from a lathe...

It's probably the cheapest bit of useful kit that I have ever used...costs way less than a commercial one...they are usually rubbish and grossly overpriced.

With clever use of the table you can do very square sanding...have virtual zero clearance and changing "disks" is easy as pie. Rip the old one off...stick on a square of ordinary paper (cheaper than discs) when dry...cut around it.

How difficult is that?

I even ground plane soles from castings on this..no problems...a few sparks though!

Jim

Can i ask what glue you used to stick the sheets on ??? and if you dont mind I will copy your design

Roger